Abstract

Welfare reform is a central part of the modernisation programme adopted by the Labour Government since 1997. This book examines the role of parliament in the formulation and scrutiny of welfare policy, focusing in particular on how MPs and Peers view their influence on policy. Based on an extensive series of interviews with MPs and Peers
from across Parliament the book: traces the dynamics of political debate on welfare both between and within parties; assesses the emergence of a new political consensus on welfare; details the welfare policy environment and the reform of Parliament under Labour; examines the extent to which MPs support developments in welfare policy; provides the most detailed assessment to date of MPs' attitudes to welfare and their views on the future of the welfare state under Blair and beyond; offers the first consideration of the role of the reconstituted House of Lords in the scrutiny of welfare policy.